"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus concerning you." -- 1
Thessalonians 5:18

We have great cause to ever
give thanks to God. Those who trust Christ, in proportion to their faith, are
content with Christ and with his wise and good his providence. And those who
are content are thankful, thankful for all things and in all things
(Eph.5:20;Phil.4:6), knowing that “all
things are of God” (2 Cor.4:18;Rom.11:36).

Here are three reasons for
constant thanksgiving to God. If God will enable us ever to think upon these
three things, we will never lack for reasons to give him thanks, no matter what
our outward circumstances may be.

Electing Love

Let us give thanks to our
God for his free, electing love (2 Thess.2:13-14).If you are a believer, a
child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, it is because God loved you with an
everlasting love, chose you as the object of his grace, determined to save you
before the world began, and separated you from the rest of mankind in his
sovereign predestination.

Our faith in Christ is not
the result of our free will. It is the result of God's sovereign will. God did
not choose us because he knew that we would choose Christ. We chose Christ
because God chose us in Christ before time began and caused us to come to
Christ in the time of his love and grace (Ps. 65:4).

The Lord Jesus Christ

Let all who are redeemed by
his precious blood give thanks to God for the unspeakable gift of his sovereign
love, the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 9:15). God gave us his Son before the
worlds were made in the covenant of grace. He gave us his Son in the incarnation
to live as our Representative. The Lord God gave his Son to die as our
Substitute under the sentence of his own justice. And the God of all grace gave
us his Son to live and reign within us in regeneration. Having given us his
dear Son, our heavenly Father has given us all things in his Son (Rom.8:32;
Eph.1:3).Truly, Christ is the gift of God's love which is unspeakable!

Divine Providence

Let all who know him give
thanks to God for his wise, adorable providence (1 Thess. 5:18). "In everything give thanks," because
everything comes from God for your eternal, spiritual good (Rom. 8:28). "In everything give thanks," because
whatever it is that you now experience, "this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
Whatever you experience, remember, your Father sends it. Therefore it is good.
So "in everything give thanks."